Back to the 60s: The Struggle Career of a Charmed Wife
Chapter 730 - 0730 Fubao Full Month 2_1

Chapter 730: Chapter 0730 Fubao Full Month 2_1

Lu’s father had become a regular at the old market recently, he was very generous, spending quite a lot, and thus was quite popular. He used the excuse of needing to furnish his home due to a recent move to the Capital to buy second-hand goods, like jewelry and toys for his grandchildren, not to mention the dishes and bowls, which naturally didn’t need justifying.

Why visit the old market? Because he didn’t have the tickets to shop at department stores- this was an easy assumption to make.

A decent piece of furniture in a department store could easily cost tens to hundreds of yuan.

"Comrade Lu, you should come see what I have, don’t worry about the dishes and bowls, I’ve taken them out for sale."

"Bring Xibao to see mine, doesn’t matter if they’re wood carvings or calabashes, they are all old crafts. You won’t regret buying any of these, kids love playing with these things, look at how delicate this pellet drum is!"

Xibao stopped when he heard someone call his name, he saw the pellet drum the person brought out, "For little sister!"

He meant to buy one for his sister, Lu’s father agreed, "Okay, okay, let’s buy one for your sister."

This pellet drum was not the one Xibao played with, it was simply made of boxwood, but it was very well made and only cost fifty cents.

After a round of shopping, they bought a few more pieces of porcelain. Lu’s father carried them in his net bag, looking like he really had come to buy dishes.

The young man who sold the chairs to them suddenly whispered to him sneakily, "Sir, I have quite a number of calligraphy and paintings passed down from my ancestors, do you want them? One yuan for each, all for you."

What Lu’s father loved the most was calligraphy and paintings, but it was not common to see these things in the market. After hearing this, he didn’t agree right away, but replied thoughtfully, "The calligraphy and paintings aren’t that useful, but let me take a look first. If I like them, I’ll buy them to put up in the house. The old house we’re living in is in a poor condition, with uneven walls, so it doesn’t really look good."

The young man was overjoyed, "Wait for me for a moment, sir, I’ll go home and bring them over."

Worried that Lu’s father would change his mind, he left to go home without tending to his stall, regarding the pile of second-hand goods, he was not worried at all.

One reason was that the people around knew him, the other was that the socialist morale was strong.

In a short while, the young man came back hugging a large bundle of calligraphy and paintings, sweating from the run. After only a brief look, Lu’s father decided to buy all of them, costing a total of eighteen yuan.

Carrying so many calligraphy pieces and paintings home would attract too much attention, so Lu’s father wrapped them in his coat and tucked them under his arm after walking a distance.

"Xibao, let’s go, time to go home!"

"Going home, going home!" Xibao shouted enthusiastically, dragging the chair towards home.

Upon arriving home, Lu’s father, without pausing to rest, put the porcelain pieces away and started to unroll the calligraphy and paintings. "Xiaoxue, come and see."

Perhaps knowing her full month celebration was fast approaching, Fubao had been restless all day, crying as soon as she was put down. Feng Qingxue had no choice but to carry her, walking around the room. She glanced at the table and exclaimed, "Dad, where did you get all these amazing paintings? Though a few are fakes, there must be at least a dozen genuine pieces!" Majority of them were indeed works rendered by the famous scholar-artist Huang Binhong.

Despite Huang Binhong’s paintings appearing to be a dark, indistinguishable mass to most people, this was his work in his eighties— early Binhong, dry brush and light ink, sparse and elegant; late Binhong, dark, dense, and weighty, radiantly dark.

During Huang Binhong’s lifetime, his paintings were not worth a single yuan. But half a century later, his paintings are worth hundreds of millions.

In painting circles, Huang Binhong is as acclaimed as Qi Baishi, indicating his highly esteemed status.